Page 21 of Secrets of the Forgotten Heir

Maddie’s gaze narrowed on me. ‘Of course he did. He probably knew I’d be at the fayre and was using the opportunity to sneak in. Ass wipe. You didn’t let him inside, did you?’

‘Of course I didn’t! Though you didn’t tell me he wasthatgood-looking.’

‘Really?’ Maddie chuckled. ‘Oh sure, I mean if you go for that obviously attractive, well-groomed thing. But that man is toxic, I’m sure of it. You need to stay clear of him.’ She wagged her finger at me.

‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to mix business with pleasure.’

A smirk lilted her lips. ‘And speaking of pleasure, I saw Ezra at the fayre before it all went to pot. He got very excited when I mentioned you were back.’

‘I heard he had to do a shifter thing and couldn’t take part.’

She nodded. ‘Yeah. He was too late to enter but we watched the contest together.’ She sent me a sideways glance. ‘I thought maybe we could all go to Shady’s one night and catch a drink.’

I could tell from the way her eyes glinted that she obviously had visions of me and Ezra hooking up, which was not going to happen. Once we had the Flame back, I’d be hightailing it back to London and I had no intention of hurting one of my oldest friends by doing so.Hurting them more,I amended mentally.

‘Shady’s?’ I asked, not rising to her bait.

‘That’s what they’ve renamed the club. It’s run by Sonny’s brother.’

‘Another vampire business? I guess the pair of them are taking over the village.’

She laughed. ‘Rumour has it they don’t get on at all. But Shady’s has damn good cocktails and Ezra promised to get the first round. So what do you reckon? Friday night?’

I knew she wanted me to say yes, but I’d only just got back to Witchlight Cove. I already had a new job to dealwith, plus three investigations to look into if I included Mrs D alongside Fraser Banks and the missing Eternal Flame. I wasn’t sure I had the mental capacity to deal with people asking me questions about what I’d been up to for the last ten years when the truthful answer was, ‘Not much, but I got a dog.’

‘Are you okay if we wait and see how I’m feeling?’ I asked Maddie. ‘I don’t want to agree and then be knackered and not able to go out. I’d feel like I was letting people down then.’

‘Sure. Ezra’s not going anywhere. I’m pretty sure he’s already waited ten years for you to come back,’ Maddie drawled, but the mischief in her tone was unmistakable.

I sighed, reached for my phone to place the order – and it buzzed in my hand with a message. From Ezra.

My stomach twisted.

Maddie grinned. ‘Told you so.’

Chapter Fourteen

Ezra’s text was a simple one, welcoming me home and saying he was looking forward to seeing me. Nothing salacious, much to Maddie’s disappointment. She’d sighed so dramatically that I was surprised the house didn’t collapse under the weight of her crushed expectations.

After the pizza we mulled over what could have happened to the Eternal Flame, but the truth was we didn’t have a clue. There had to be a reason it had disappeared: acause. And if there was a cause we could undo it, damn it. What was weird was the fact that the wards were still intact; wherever it was, it hadn’t gone far.

We spent the rest of the night renewing our friendship. Our easy camaraderie had clicked back into place like no time had passed but we still had a decade to catch up on – and it was clear that Maddie still resented me for my absence, for which I didn’t blame her a jot.

I told her about teaching self-defence, and she shared details of her ‘minimalist’ dating life – which appeared tobe her choosing a series of ‘bad boys’. There was a clear pattern of her dating guys who wanted her to tattoo them and their friends for free before they lost interest – until a full moon was near or their current ward was fading. I didn’t point that out; I suspect she already knew she was making bad choices.

‘Maybe you should be the one thinking about dating Ezra,’ I suggested lightly.

Maddie looked faintly green, like she’d imagined licking a troll. ‘Eww. He’s like a brother to me. Don’t get me wrong, he’s been my first port of call since you left – but no. There’s nothing romantic between us and there never will be.’ She hesitated then sipped her drink; letting slide whatever she’d been about to tell me.

Curiosity gnawed at me but I didn’t press. She wasn’t a suspect to interrogate, she was my friend and I needed to respect her lines in the sand. I wanted to get to know her properly again, to show her how much her friendship did truly matter to me.

‘Wine?’ I suggested.

‘Sure,’ she agreed easily. ‘I have a bottle of Oy Bay in the fridge.’

I couldn’t help but smile. It had always been our drink of choice, while Ezra was mainlining real ales.

‘Perfect.’

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